“You can’t just add more sugar to everything and expect the problem to be solved!” Neelix said, shielding a cowering purple scaly boy with green hair from being force-fed a Pinkie Pie modified slice of jeweled Jimbalian fudge cake.
“Why not?” Pinkie asked innocently, “It worked every time back home on Equestria.”
Neelix puffed up his chest. “People here have more refined tastes than a hyperactive child with five sweet tooths!”
“Sweet teeth?”
Neelix ignored the crazy pink sugar obsessed monster. “If anything, there may have been too much sugar! I believe we may be able to counteract that with a little bit of salt.”
“Salt?! Are you crazy? This is a cake, not a pretzel!”
“In all honesty,” Spike cut in from behind Neelix, “I don’t think I want to eat a normal Jumbo Lion fudge cake anyways. Sorry, Neelix.”
Neelix turned to face Spike partially. “None taken.”
It was at this moment that Pinkie and Neelix noticed Applejack had entered the room with a large barrel hefted over her shoulder.
“Applejack, thank goodness,” Neelix said as he broke his shielding stance. “You can talk some sense into your pink, fluffy, sugar-crazed monster friend, can’t ya?”
Applejack chuckled. “Pinkie, do you remember the time when you found out that Rainbow didn’t like pies.”
Pinkie deflated a little at the recent memory. “Yeah.”
“It’s nothing against you.” Applejack continued. She leaned towards Spike, “Right, Spike?”
Spike nodded. “Yeah! I’m sure I would love to eat your Jam Bail-out Fudge cake, but my stomach would probably be not too happy afterward.”
Pinkie gave a solemn smile as her hair reinflated. “Ok. Thanks for telling me, Spike.”
Spike and Neelix visibly relaxed.
“You should have said something earlier!” Pinkie said playfully as she skipped her way out of the mess hall.
Spike sharply inhaled and let out a slow, defeated groan.
Pinkie Pie was skipping down the corridor of deck eight when four children turned a corner running at high speed and nearly ran into Pinkie Pie. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and their newest member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Naomi Wildman, all panicked and toppled over each other in their attempts to abruptly stop and not run into Pinkie Pie.
Pinkie Pie was left standing as she asked, “Hi, girls. Whatcha dooin’?”
Naomi was the first one to stand up. “We’re on our way to the holodeck to play an episode of Flotter.”
“Flotter?” Pinkie asked. “Who’s that?”
Sweetie Belle stood up. “He’s a water elemental we go on adventures with in the Forest of Forever.”
Apple Bloom stood up this time. “It’s just like the Everfree Forest back home. Except... not filled with terrifying creatures that want to eat us.”
“Or turn us to stone,” Scootaloo grunted as she strained a little to stand up, having been at the bottom of the pile and experiencing the others’ collective weight.
“Wow. That sounds like fun. Can I join you?” Pinkie Pie said.
The original members of the CMC looked at Naomi, and Naomi looked back at them with the same intent of gauging their feelings on letting Pinkie Pie join them.
“Sure.” Naomi said, “Mom and Neelix sometimes join us every once in a while, so I don’t see why you can’t.”
“Great!” Pinkie said, “Lead the way.”
Pinkie followed the Crusaders to the holodeck and Naomi pulled up the chapter titled “Flotter and the Rubber Trevis theory”. The computer gave an affirmative beep, opened the doors, and gave a brief narration.
“Once upon a time, in the Forest of Forever,” the computer began, “Flotter began to wonder about what kind of tree Trevis was.”
Pinkie and the girls walked through the holographic forest and they came upon a blue fish-like man, with a bulbous head and blue fish-scales that occasionally reflected rainbow colors covering most of his body. The blue man was kneeling, tying a thin vine around the trunk of a tree.
“Hey Flotter.” Naomi said, “We’ve brought someone we’d like you to meet.”
The man stopped what he was doing. “Well hello there, Naomi, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo.” he looks at Pinkie, “And this is?” he asked pleasantly as he stood up.
“Hi, I’m Pinkie Pie.” she held out a hand, “Nice to meet you, Flotter.”
Flotter held out his hand and shakes it with Pinkie. “It’s nice to meet you too, Pinkie Pie. -May I just call you Pinkie?”
Pinkie nodded her head and gave a cheery “Mm-hm!”
They let go of their handshake and, keeping civil poker faces, Pinkie whipped her hand dry on her skirt while Flotter rubbed his hands together to wipe off some sticky sugar. Naomi and the others didn’t seem to notice.
“So, Flotter,” Sweetie Belle started, “Whatta you doing?”
“Ah! I am setting up a tripping vine for Treevis.” he said conspiratorially.
“Ooh!” Pinkie shouted. “We’re pulling a prank on someone? Count me in! What’s he going to fall into? A pie? A cake? Some pudding?”
Flotter glanced aside nervously. “The ground?”
Pinkie frowned in confusion. “But wouldn’t that be uncomfortable?”
“Well, I mean, the point is to see if he’ll bounce.”
“Wait.” Apple Bloom spoke up. “We’re pulling a prank on Treevis, right? And Treevis is a tree, right? Last I remember, trees don’t bounce. Ah should know, I’ve bucked quite a few apple trees.”
Flotter did a double take as he looked to Apple Bloom. “What did the trees ever do to you?”
Apple Bloom opened her mouth to speak but Sweetie Belle held up a hand to stop her. “I don’t think we have time to explain your family’s farming techniques to him.”
Naomi cocked her head quizzically as she stared at Sweetie Belle for a moment. “I’m going to ask you about that later. But first, why do you want to know if Treevis will bounce?”
“Well,” Flotter said as he knelt down to the Crusaders’ eye level, “it will confirm my theory that Treevis is, in fact, a rubber tree.”
“A rubber tree?!” Pinkie shouted. “Oooh~.”
Flotter chuckled a little. “Yeah.”
“But,” Naomi started, “wouldn’t Treevis be upset if we trip him like this?”
Flotter p’shawed and waved a hand dismissively. “I’ve been at this for a little while already, he hasn’t been bothered by this at all.”
Naomi thought about this for a second. “Alright,” she said, “If he’s not being bothered by it, I’m fine.”
They then heard the rustling of tree branches in the distance.
“Oh! He’s coming! Hide!” Flotter whispered, and everyone jumped behind a mound of dirt.
Sure enough, Treevis came walking around a cluster of trees, brushing away the low-hanging branches. He looked like he didn’t have a care in the world, just enjoying a walk in the woods. Of course, when he got close enough, Flotter pulled the vine taught and Treevis’ foot got caught in the vine. Treevis fell with the sound of a whistle and a honk when he hit the ground.
Pinkie Pie flinched when she heard the whistle and the honk. She frantically looked for the source of the noises momentarily. “Those sound effects were a bit more real than I expected.” she mumbled to herself.
Flotter sniggered. “Did you hear the noise he made when he fell?” he whispered to the Crusaders, “‘Honk!’ Hilarious.”
“Did he bounce?” Scootaloo asked.
Flotter smacked his lips. “I’m not sure, actually. We’ll have to repeat this experiment a few more times to get conclusive evidence.”
“First,” Naomi interrupted. “Let’s go make sure he’s okay.”
“Wait until he gets up.” Flotter said. “We don’t need him to be suspicious of us tripping him up all the time.”
Naomi rolled her eyes, and waited until Treevis picked himself up and dusted himself off before being the first to approach with Flotter, the other Crusaders, and Pinkie shortly behind her.
“Hey, Treevis.” Naomi asked innocently. “How are you doing today?”
Treevis turned to face Naomi, and glanced at Flotter. “Pretty good.” he said, “Although, I seem to be tripping on things very often as of late, I’m starting to think that I’m getting old and losing my balance.”
“How old are you, Treevis?” Sweetie Belle inquired.
Treevis looked to Sweetie Belle. “That is a very touchy matter that I’d rather not answer.” he looks up to see Pinkie Pie. “Who’s this?”
“Hi, I’m Pinkie Pie.” she said enthusiastically as she waved.
Treevis waved back. “Treevis.”
“She’s a friend of ours.” said Apple Bloom. “She wanted to join us on one of our adventures.”
“You seem the adventuring type.” Treevis said eyeing Pinkie. “What kind of adventures have you been on?”
“Oh, lots! I’ve even saved the world with my friends on a few occasions.”
Flotter and Naomi turned to look at Pinkie incredulously.
“It’s true.” Apple Bloom stated plainly. “My sister’s one of ‘em.”
“Occasion where they saved the world or friends?” Flotter asked.
“Friends.”
“Same with my sister.” Sweetie Belle said.
“Well, aren’t we surrounded by celebrities?” Flotter said. “Hey, I know this mud wallow close by that’s about to dry up. Let’s put your handprints and write your names in the mud while it dries that way it’ll be there forever.”
“That sounds cool.” Scootaloo said. “Let’s go.”
Everyone turned to follow Flotter, but Treevis hung back with Pinkie.
“Hey, Pinkie. You also look like a prankster type.”
“Maybe.” she said with a sly grin. “Who’s asking?”
Flotter and the Crusaders later run into Pinkie on the top of a hill, tying a rope to the top of a tree and is being bent in an arch. It was clear that she was making a very large snare trap.
“Pinkie,” Sweetie Belle asked, “What are you doing?”
“Making a snare trap.” she said cheerfully.
“We can see that.” said Naomi, “So... why?”
“For a prank, of course. Why else would it be this big?”
“If you were trying to capture a big monster?” Scootaloo chanced.
Pinkie thought over it for a second. “True, however, I’d use a much stronger netting for that, to tangle it up so it couldn’t move as much.”
Flotter leaned over to Naomi. “This is starting to look just like the first time we met Treevis.”
“Yes,” Naomi replied. “But this time it’s a prank gone too far rather than a search for an unknown creature.”
“Ah, come on Naomi. He’s been through worse, he’ll be fine dangling a few feet in the air.” Flotter responded as he approached the trap to have a closer look. “Ok, several feet in the air... upside down- alright this has gone too far.”
“Good, now let’s take this down before-” Naomi didn’t finish her sentence before Pinkie abruptly pushed Flotter into the trap and springing it. Flotter was thrown into the air with such force that he was actually catapulted.
“Pinkie!” the Crusaders screamed. “What did you do?”
“Relax girls, I know what his trajectory is and the pool of sap he’ll land in is quite large.”
Naomi had to take a moment to process what she had been told. “A pool... of sap?”
Flotter flew through the sky, tumbling head over heels, as he yelped like a certain goofy cartoon dog, then he landed flat on his back in a very large pool filled with sap breaking his fall without injury. “Well,” Flotter said to no one in particular. “That was fun. Don’t ever want to do that again.”
“Looks like the pink one and I are going to have to step up our game if that’s the case.” came the gruff voice of Treevis, just out of Flotter’s sight.
When Pinkie and the Crusaders got to Flotter’s landing site, they found Flotter already being helped out by Treevis and both working to scrape off residual sap.
“So,” Pinkie said expectantly, “What did we learn~?”
Flotter threw down a glob of sap. “That Treevis is, in fact, not a rubber tree.”
“And~?”
“If I wanted to know, I should have just asked.” Flotter said, embarrassed.
“Good,” Treevis said as he shook off some residual sap. “Now that that’s over with I want to introduce you to my new friend. I wanted to introduce you to him before you started tripping me up all day.”
Another tree-man came out from behind the bushes and stood incredibly tall. “I am Groot.”